Land vehicles are tested for crashworthiness by a variety of tests including frontal impacts, side impacts, rear impacts, roll-over and other tests. Frontal impact tests were previously developed that specified that a vehicle impacts a barrier between the frame rails that extend longitudinally relative to the vehicle. In this type of test, the frame rails provide the primary support for the vehicle body and reduce any potential for intrusions into the passenger compartment. The extent of any intrusions into the passenger compartment are measured at the brake pedal, foot rest, left toe pan, center toe pan, right toe pan, left instrument panel, right instrument panel, and door.
A new test is proposed for simulating small offset frontal collisions against a rigid barrier. In the proposed test, the vehicle impacts a rigid barrier having a six inch pole-like radius on one corner with a 25% overlap at 40 MPH. The impact is outboard of the frame rails so that the frame rails do not provide as much resistance to intrusion into the passenger compartment as in the case of impacts between the frame rails.
The weight of land vehicles is being substantially reduced to improve fuel efficiency. Vehicles are currently being designed to reduce the weight of the vehicle with a parallel objective of not compromising performance or crashworthiness. It is difficult to meet the proposed test requirements for the small offset rigid barrier crash test while reducing vehicle weight and reducing manufacturing costs.
The above problems and other problems are addressed by this disclosure as will be summarized below.